Please give me some advice as I dont know where to start?

[lennon80]

All I want is a car seat that is rear facing that can become the 'pram' in that you can stick it on the wheels and that same thing then also is a buggy when the baby is a tad older. I dont want the big bulky pram bit. Any suggestions would be gratefully received as I dont have a clue on what I should be looking at.

Do you realise that a baby should not be in a car seat for more than a couple of hours at a time? Sorry, that sounds really preachy, but it is not recommended as the "car seat" position is not recommended for babies' backs and posture, and they limit how the baby can wriggle around and they get a bit hot.

Anyway, sounds like the Quinny Zapp and Maxi Cosi CabrioFix seat (maybe also the new MC Pebble car seat, but that is since DS was in an infant car seat).

Quinny Zapp is a pushchair and the Maxi Cosi seat clips on over the main seat.

You can do something similar with one of the Maclarens - Techno XT I think - and the pushchair seat lies almost flat for young babies (not sure if suitable for newborns).

ohh no I didnt know that. See this is why I am here..I have no idea and want to get something that will be suitable for this baby and the next one but not spend a fortune. Thanks for advice I will look these up now.

Get yourself down to John Lewis girl and have a chat with the nursery department. They talk you through some of your options.

Get a feel for what options you have and don't rush into a decision.

I had a Quninny Buzz (Maxi Cosi carseat clicked in) and also a Maclaren XT (couldn't take the car seat though). i now have a Loola Up as my walking buggy as it is really good with a buggy board. The choices (unfortunately) are endless and I got myself in a real pickle too!

Buzz was expensive big and heavy.

If I could do it again I would consider the Icandy cherry (lightweight and takes a MC carseat).

DO a bit a research online but go and see someone too at a shop (but go to a shop like JL where they know something about the product).

Consider getting a second hand travel system/pram/buggy you will save an absolute fortune. Gumtree, netmums are great for picking one up locally once you have narrowed down what you want.

We got a separate car seat and buggy.

The buggy had a crib insert to use when DS was very little, and it doubled up as a moses basket effectively. So we could transfer DS from the buggy if we'd been out, to the house and he'd stay sleeping.

This worked for us as we lived in London and went a lot of places by public transport, not always the car.

As an aside, have you thought of a sling? I didn't discover them until quite late, and I wish someone had mentioned them to me when I was looking at push chairs and the like. There are times when it's just much less faff to put your baby in a sling that the pushchair (such as if you're going somewhere with stairs). Plus it's just lovely to have your baby all nice and snuggly and close to you. Being close to you also helps them regulate their breathing.

HTH

I second speaking to John Lewis. The sales girl we spoke to was really helpful. We did plan to go to John Lewis for the advice, and then leave and see if we could get the same buggy cheaper online (a bit cheeky but hey ho) but actually we got it from John Lewis one in the end, and I'm really glad we did because their customer service is really good. It broke 3 times and they were really good about taking it back to get it fixed - they even fixed a broken bit that was our fault at the same time.

And they gave us a courtesy buggy that was better than our own one, so we were in no hurry to get ours back!

wow thanks ladies this has been really helpful..off to John Lewis it is then. I just want something nice and lightweight that I dont need a phd to be able to take down and shove in the boot of my car.

Lowrib I am buying a sling as often we will be in the car and not walking too far and I am a firm believer in attachment parenting due to my job and so will probably get a lot of use out of the sling.